The Seven Hills of Rome

27/06/2013 by Vatican.com

The ancient city of Rome was originally built on the topographical layout of seven separate hills. These seven hills were joined together by the ancient walls of Rome- the Servian walls. The Seven Hills of Rome lie in the east to the Tiber River. Later many more areas were annexed to the city. The city walls were extended to include them also and the city is now much bigger than its original territory. The Vatican and Vatican hill are included in the Areas that were added to the city much later in history.

The seven hills are, namely:

The Quirinal Hill

The Aventine Hill

The Caelian Hill

The Viminal Hill

The Capitoline Hill

The Esquiline Hill

The Palatine Hill

The biggest of all the seven is the Esquiline hill. It is famous because the Roman emperor constructed the domus aurea on it. Before the time of the Roman Empire the east side of the Esquiline was used for refuse and the poor buried their dead there. Execution of criminals was held by the Esquiline gate and the bodies were left to rot there. Burial was not allowed within the borders of the city but the burial area at the Esquiline was not within the walls of the city.

In addition on the Esquiline were The Temple of Claudius, The Colossus, and the Baths of Trajan.

The Palatine hill is also very important. According to the legend about the foundation of Rome the city to was first founded on the Palatine Hill by Romulus.

Rome had a very humble beginning. According to the legend the seven hills were originally occupied by tiny groups of separate tribes and were not affiliated to any city. Rome did not yet exist. Eventually the residents of the seven hills started to cooperate in order to participate in a series of religious games. These games were the adhesive that bonded the different settlers. As these separate settlements came together and became friendly, they formed together the newborn city of Rome. They started to work together to drain the marshes between the different hills and turn them into markets. The safety of any city used to depend on the height, sturdiness and breadth of its walls. The seven hills were protected by the walls called the Servian Walls. These were built in the early 4th century BC.

Whereas five out of the seven hills of Rome; The Caelian, The Esquiline, The Aventine, The Viminal and The Quirinal) include monuments, buildings, and parks m the poher two are not populated currently. The Capitoline hill is now Rome's city hall, and the Palatine Hill is part of an archaeological site.

Because of the seven hills Rome is known as the city of seven hills among other names given to it. The legend of the seven hills is so famous that here are other cities in the world that claim to have been built on seven hills. One of these cities is Athens, Greece.

The Pincian Hill located north of the tiber, The Vatican Hill which is located north-west to the river Tiber , and the Janiculum Hill lying to the west, are not part of the Seven Hills.